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Family Road Trip Survival Kit- Essentials

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This year the travel bug bit us hard, and our family road trip was the longest, hardest trip to date with kids. Whether by luck or design, we have quite the list of destinations that we have hit already this year or will be traveling to. Some are sans-kiddos, like our parents weekend in Las Vegas or the upcoming visit to the Country Music Capital of the Southwest, Las Cruces. And there are some destinations that were truly a family affair, like our 15 hour haul in a super RV to the Ozarks!

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Yes, we piled our family and extended family of 9 total people into a giant RV and hit the open road headed east towards Missouri. It really was a trip. Traveling with little kids is always a task, but there are some essentials that you need to include to make the trip fun.

Our trip was a huge success and I will be sharing more of the details that helped to make it so. This post is going to give you your survival guide. All the essentials that you need to have a smooth trip with little kids, no matter the distance.

Snacks

You might be thinking, “duh, lady” but hear me out. Sure, a case of chocolate chip cookies is what they want, and because it is vacation you might want to oblige. You can include healthy snacks like fruit without sacrificing sacred space in your RV by taking Crunchies Freeze-Dried Grab-n-Go Mixed Fruit. I love these and so do the kids. You can pack fruit without it getting squished and going bad or taking up precious fridge or cabinet space. Kids enjoy little fistfuls of bananas and strawberries. Plus – you can use as a yogurt topper and you’ve just covered breakfast on day one of your trip! Crunchies come in Pack of 6 and might I add that Mango is delicious!

2. Coloring Book

Yes, it obvious that the kids need something to do on a long and grueling drive, but what about you, mama? While I typically love driving, especially long distance, there was no freakin’ way I was going to drive the Tour Bus for our Mayhem Festival. Not. A. Chance. Which also meant that I needed something to do. Mama Survival. While I love a good Dora The Explora Activity Book as much as the next fool, I brought along something just for me. Be honest, when is the next time you’ll actually have time to sit and color with your herd of children if not on a long RV trip. This is super essential. Better than a book which no one will let you read anyhow. (Plus, you might get car sick)

I adore this coloring book because it helps keep me mindful of all the things I love about being a mom with amazing quotes. Stephanie Corfee is a great artist as well and sent me this book before it hit the shelves, so I got my color on in advance! The kids liked coloring with me on the trip and it kept everyone quiet for, like 5 seconds!

3. Games

Board games are a travel & camping essential. There is no way to survive a rained in day or long road trip with out them. Now, while we usually keep our camper stocked with Cards Against Humanity and The game of Life what you need for a road trip is travel games!

We played Eye Spy, Eagle Eye at minimum 27 times. Even Madeline could play, which is great, because no one likes to be left out. Its a fun game without little pieces, which makes it chances of survival on a road trip so much better. We also like card games like Uno, Monopoly, and Go Fish. It’s essential that everyone can play and when the rumbles are kept to a minimum, survival is guaranteed!

Are you sick of me swearing by Amazon Prime yet? Well, I’ll never stop. We bought each Kidiot a Kindle Fire for Christmas last year knowing full well that they would be our biggest survival tool for this years multiple road trips. We might have screen time on lock down at home thanks to Amazon Free Time but we let them have unlimited time on our road trip. We stuck them in the back bedroom of the RV with their Kindles and a couple minutes into a downloaded movie, they were out! Score!

This is a short list of my essential for surviving a road trip with small kids. I will be posting an Ultimate RV Packing List soon so that you can get your Road Trip on this summer without forgetting any of the important shit, like tooth paste and butter. Swear those are the most commonly forgotten items!

I have a few road/camping trips planned this summer and I’m really excited! Half because I haven’t done either in ages, and half because I don’t have to deal with kids. lol. More power to you and great ideas for surviving the long haul!

Great road trip tips!! My husband and I think a road trip is an excuse to pack a bunch of non-healthy treats and snacks…I need to take your advice and be a little healthier in the future, especially with summer trips coming up! We will always have Twizzlers as our road trip staple…but I think incorporating some healthy munchies is probably smart!!

I love the idea of a road trip with an RV. We have a small car and all being bunched up sounds utterly devastating to my claustrophobic self. I adore Amazon prime. Streaming and free devilery. Sign me up.